Q&A: Liam O'Maonlai of Hothouse Flowers playing Kingston, Woodstock

Good timing with Two Row Wampum festivities

Two members of the Irish rock band Hothouse Flowers Liam O'Maonlai and Peter O'Toole will perform a benefit for the Irish Cultural Center at 5 p.m. Thursday at the Steel House on the Rondout Landing in Kingston.

Two members of the Irish rock band Hothouse Flowers Liam O'Maonlai and Peter O'Toole will perform a benefit for the Irish Cultural Center at 5 p.m. Thursday at the Steel House on the Rondout Landing in Kingston. O'Maonlai arrived from Dublin on Tuesday and spoke to Deb Medenbach about his music, history in Ulster county and deep interest in indigenous native cultures around the world:

DM: Tell me about your interest in the preservation of native cultures.

O'Maonlai: In Ireland, where I'm from, the villages, towns and cities were not of our design. Our people were more nomadic. When I was learning English, my father would ask me to sing sean nos (traditional a capella songs in the Irish language) and meet people who still spoke Irish. It was a struggle, but when I was a boy, it blew my mind and heart that the land spoke through the language and song of the people. If I come to a country, I have an interest in that culture of land and heart. The idea is of the permanence within the people, rather than in the buildings that surround them.

Australia was just beautiful. There's a universe of cultures there and it continues. It's like living in a poem. People connect to that sense of slower timing with a greater rhythm. They keep on walking. Every ceremony begins with a thanksgiving for everything from the stars to the earth and that puts people into context. We move much gentler when we start that way.

I did a movie in Mali about four years ago. It was me and a piper from Ireland, Paddy Keenan. We interacted with the place with several nomadic groups. There were at least 11 languages, from the nomadics and the colonials. The film was called “The Mali Project.”

DM: You'll be actively participating in the Two Row Wampum and Dakota Unity Ride events on Thursday afternoon at the Hudson River Maritime Museum, as well as a concert with native singers on Sunday at the Colony Cafe in Woodstock. What is your relationship to the Native American people? And has your exposure been just to groups in the Northeast or have you engaged with Western groups too?

O'Maonlai: I was able to go to a pow wow two years ago in Seattle. I'd never been to one before and it was wonderful that they welcomed everyone and it was there all summer long. This time, I've come over primarily to be part of the Two Row Wampum and Dakota Unity Ride. I want to visit with what's going on here.

DM: You have history here in Ulster County? How often do you return?

O'Maonlai: I came here in 1993 to finish a record called “Songs From the Rain.” I was here about a month, working at the Dreamland studio. The Tinker Street Cafe had a Wednesday night open-mic night, which was just trouble for us. We were there all the time, and for their poetry nights as well. Last fall I was here with my show “Rian” and started in Minnesota and then headed to San Francisco and Seattle before coming east to the show at Lincoln Center. Sometimes I can come every year. I try to get over fairly often.